Matt Fitzpatrick won Valspar but he was still miffed at his playing partner’s ‘glacial’ pace of play
Matt Fitzpatrick made birdie on the 18th hole Sunday to win the Valspar Championship by one shot over David Lipsky. It was his third PGA Tour victory. That’s the only thing that matters to the 31-year-old Englishman.
But there was a time midway through the final round at Innisbrook Resort where Fitzpatrick felt he was getting out of his rhythm because of the slow pace of play from his playing partner, Adrien Dumont de Chassart. NBC Sports’ John Wood reported during the telecast that Fitzpatrick hit his approach shot to the 11th green first even though he was closer. He then walked up to the green and waited for Dumont de Chassart, a 26-year-old from Belgium.
“It is glacial, to be kind,” Wood said. PGA Tour rules official Orlando Pope told NBC Sports that Fitzpatrick told officials he was not pleased with the pace and Dumont de Chassart was issued an official warning after he was timed a short time later. “Yeah, that was really frustrating.
It was slow today. I felt like there was a lot of stop/start,” Fitzpatrick said. “Yeah, just, you know, just not ready.
When you're not ready to play a golf shot it gets frustrating after a while. Particularly when you’re playing well yourself or you're in contention or whatever it is. There's definitely, you know, it definitely knocks you out of your rhythm.